A furious resident has slammed Northern rail for “dismissing Southport and reducing access to certain areas of Manchester.”

Eric Woodcock, who is a member of the Southport Rail Transport Forum, claims Northern have “misrepresented” what is happening to the train timetables in Southport.

This comes after the rail firm announced that from May 20, Northern will start to operate two weekday trains every hour between Southport and Manchester Victoria.

They also plan to run two morning peak services from Southport to Alderley Edge via Manchester Piccadilly, and will operate two evening peak services from Alderley Edge via Manchester Piccadilly to Southport.

Northern states that the new “enhanced services” are paving the way for future improvements and getting the network ready for the arrival of Northern’s fully refurbished trains.

However, Eric claims that the impacts on Southport have been “underplayed” by the rail giant, and the new changes will “limit the access” Southport has to Manchester.

He said: “Northern has completely misrepresented what is happening where Southport is concerned. They are dismissing Southport.

“The new plans involve completely cutting the direct link to Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester airport, apart from the morning and evening services.”

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Eric, from Churchtown, has been part of the Southport Rail Transport Forum for three years and has been fighting to ensure Southport doesn’t lose its much-needed city links.

He added: “To get to Manchester Piccadilly or Manchester Airport during the day, under the new timetables, rail users will have to swap trains.

“There will also be limited access to Manchester Oxford Road, which is used by a lot of people who work in Manchester.

“Running the morning and evening services doesn’t really solve this issue, as not all people work nine until five jobs so they could be arriving too early and be waiting later to get their trains.”

Northern claim that they are introducing improved services to make travelling between Merseyside, Cheshire and Manchester more convenient than ever before.

Sharon Keith, Northern’s regional director, said: “We are very aware of the local concerns and strength of feeling regarding the service changes and have been since the start of the franchise. We have worked closely with the Rail User Groups to understand their concerns and develop the best possible timetable we can for May.

“Our new timetable will provide six weekday trains per hour between Wigan and Manchester Victoria, giving excellent connectivity to Southport and a new direct link to Leeds. We will also operate two morning peak services from Southport to Manchester Piccadilly and Alderley Edge and two evening peak services in the opposite direction.”

“An independent study has shown that these services will cater for around 80 per cent of the current south Manchester commuter demand which, when coupled with the services into Manchester Victoria, gives Southport customers significant choice and flexibility.

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“Having said this we want to do more and provide even better links between Southport and Manchester. We will continue to develop the timetable for our customers and while it has not yet been possible to provide an “all day” service to Manchester Piccadilly, it remains our ambition to do so.

“I believe this absolutely underlines our commitment to listen to our customers and to provide the best possible service for commuters and leisure travellers alike.”